Williams Is a Hit, but Kings Are Tied, 3-3

It jused to be that whenever left Dave (Tiger) Williams played at the Forum, fans would boo him off the ice.

There was the time when WIlliams, then with the Vancouver Canucks, climbed into the Forum stands to berate a fan who had thrown ice at him. On another occasion, Williams threw a chair out of the penalty box onto the ice to protest a call.

In short, Williams, the National Hockey League’s all-time leader in penalty minutes with 3,157, is not known for his finesse.

But the Forum fans apparently are willing to forgive and forget now that Williams wears a King uniform.

He made his debut in Wednesday night’s 3-3 tie against the Hartford Whalers and received a standing ovation from a crowd of 10938 when he scored his first goal as a King to break a 1-1 deadlock 6:26 into the third period.

After scoring the goal, Williams raised his hands in the air, did a little dance and raced out to center ice.

“I was pretty excited,” he said. “I’m not much of a dance. I’m more into square dancing. I don’t know how popular I’ll be in L.A.

“It would have felt a lot nicer if we had won the game, but the goal felt great. I know I have not lost anything.”

There were a few boos when Williams skated onto the ice before the game, but he said he didn’t hear them.

“Every time I’ve played in this building I’ve always heard fans cheering,” he joked. “I appreciate it.”

The Kings hope that Williams will add a little muscle to their team since he apparently relishes his role as an enforcer. However, he didn’t draw any penalties in his first game.

“I’ve played this way for 11 years, and I’m not going to change now,” he said.

It looked as if the Kings were headed for an easy win a The Kings looked as if they were headed for an easy 3-1 lead at what looked like a comfortable time” King Coach Pat Quinn said.

The Whalers closed to within one goal with 4:46 left when center Paul Fenton scored his fourth goal of the season.

Hartford then pulled goalie Mike Liut for an extra skater in the last minute. the move paid off whin rookie Kevin Dineen tied the game when he tipped in a shot by teammate Jack Brownschidle with 11 seconds left.

“I stepped to the side of the net hoping for a rebound and I took a Baseball-type swing at the puck and it went in,” Dineen said.

The Kings jumped on the whalers early, outshooting them 11-0, in the first eight minutes. But Liut made several good saves to keep the Whalers from being blown out.

“Liut played a strong game,” Quinn said. “That’s the Liut we all remember. He had an outstanding game.”

The Kings opened the scoring with a power-play goal with 13:27 left in the first period after a hooking penalty on Whaler right wing Ray Neufeld.

Dave Taylor put a move on Hartford defenseman Joel Quenneville on a two-on-one break, then passed to Marcel Dionne, who beat Liut to his glove side for his 40th goal of the season.

It was the 10th time in his career that Dionne has scored 40 goals in one season, an NHL record.

The Kings outshot the Whalers 17-9, in the first period, but the Whalers played them even in the second period and tied the score with 3:17 left when center Dave Tippett Scored his seventh goal of the season after a scramble in front of the net.

King Notes Jim Fox, The Kings’ right wing, missed the game with an eye injury. Fox was injured in the first period of Sunday’s 4-4 tie with Buffalo when he accidentally was struck in the eye by the stick of teammate Terry Ruskowski. Buffalo’s Dave Maloney aggravated the injury when he rubbed his glove in fox’s eye in the second period. Fox is expected to skate in today’s practice. The Kings close out the homestand with games against the Detroit Red wings Saturday night and the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night.